Each year there is always a few kindergarten students who are anxious (to put it nicely) when it comes to using computers. I start the year asking how many have used computers at home, and more hands go up each year. With the increasing expectation from state standards (see Michigan’s Tech Plan site), students are required to learn certain skills by the end of 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 12th grade.
There are a few students that are reluctant when it comes to using the computer. I see K-4th grades once every 6 days for 50 minutes. There are approximately 25-28 kindergarten students in each class (I teach 4 sections). Some classes have a parent volunteer, while others do not. The ones that it is just me in the room can be a challenge just to make sure students stay on task and to keep the computers from locking up.
I am seeking input from other kindergarten computer teachers out there to see how you manage and encourage students to use computers. What types of lessons, activities, websites and/or assessments do you use to determine whether they have acquired a skill? What do you do for the students who are anxious to make it less stressful for them?
Any comments would be of great help, thanks!
Posted on February 21, 2009 in Advice by James Stewart
plagium (beta)::: plagiarism tracker & checker ::: home – Plagium is an innovative, fast, and easy-to-use means to check text against possible plagiarism or possible sources of origination. Simply enter text that you would like to analyze into the text box and let Plagium do the rest of the work.
Eye On Education – Eye On Education publishes practical reference books for teachers, principals, administrators, and other educators. All of our publications are peer-reviewed. They provide busy educators with practical information on professional development, educational leadership, school improvement, student assessment, data analysis, teaching skills, and other related topics.
Posted on February 20, 2009 in Bookmarks by Steve Dembo
These are my links for February 18th through February 19th:
The Image Mixer – Oyonale is dedicated to digital art, particularly art created with 3D rendering software, particularly POV-Ray, Cinema 4D, FinalRender and Poser.
algebasics? Algebra Tutorials – Algebasics is an amazing tutorial for learning the basics of Algebra. Step by step audio and visual examples are certain to help teach the student and the parent outside of the classroom.
TrapCall.com – a revolutionary way to see who is calling you, even if they have blocked their phone number. With our advanced technology, we make it easy to unmask private or blocked numbers.
Today’s session is at Washington Elementary computer lab from 4:10-5:10pm You will learn the latest changes to United Streaming since they moved to the Discovery Education Network (DEN).
You will learn how to:
Download videos to the network folder
Create video playlists
Using the Quiz Builder
Writing Prompt Builder
Day in History
Lesson Plan Library
Finding content with a Thematic Focus.
Posted on February 18, 2009 in Session, Tools, Video by James Stewart
World Maths Day 09 – Unite with students and schools from around the world to set a new world record! The Challenge – to correctly answer more than 182,445,169 questions in 48 hours.
PDF Converter – Convert to PDF free with doPDF – doPDF is a free PDF converter for both personal and commercial use. Using doPDF you can create PDF files by selecting the “Print” command from virtually any application.
VistaZoo – Free Virtual Tours and Portal – VistaZoo is a customizable portal from where you can create stunning, professional Virtual Tours combining panoramas, pictures, video, audio, floorplans and objects in 3D.
Posted on February 17, 2009 in Bookmarks by Steve Dembo
Eye-Fi make any digital camera wireless that has a SD memory slot. Send your photos and videos to your computer, Youtube, Flickr and many other sites without the need for a cable!
Posted on February 15, 2009 in Tech, Tools, Video by James Stewart
Facebook for Parents is a great resource that explains to parents how to make sure their children are practicing responsible online citizenship. The homepage of Facebook for Parents provides the five basic steps to take to begin learning about Facebook. Not only can parents sign up for a free online course offered by Stanford, but also receive free e-mail newsletter that helps parents recognize the most important aspects of Facebook, as it relates to their family’s well-being.
